Policy on Post-Master's Certificate Programs
(Approved by Graduate Council, February 17, 2000; revisions approved by Graduate
Council May 2, 2012)
I.
ROLE OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS AT TWU
Post-Master's certificate programs should go beyond existing
master's degrees in a way that will make TWU a center of lifelong graduate education for the citizens of Texas. The Graduate
School should not offer any certificate program which could
serve as either a substitute for an existing master's program or
that duplicates an existing program. Certificate programs must
also be consistent with the mission of the academic unit offering
the program.
II.
ADMISSION STANDARDS
The locus of control for establishing admission standards will be
placed with the sponsoring academic unit, subject to the
following guidelines:
A. Candidates must have completed a master's degree in a prespecified (listed) field(s). In most instances, the master's degree
should be related to the certificate program.
B. Exceptions to the admission standards listed in the Graduate
Catalog must be approved by both the admitting academic unit
and the Graduate School.
III.
CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS
A. A minimum of 12 semester hours of graduate work.
B. In general, post-master's certificate programs should not exceed
18 semester hours at the 6000-level. Certificate programs which
exceed 30 semester hours will be approved only under unusual
circumstances.
C. The course work comprising the certificate program must be an
integrated and organized sequence of study.
D. With the exception of internship, practicum, independent
projects or clinical work, all courses for certificates will be letter
graded.
E. Students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0
in all certificate course work. Only three semester hours with a
grade of "C" will count towards a certificate. A maximum of three
semester hours of failed course work may be repeated.
F. Normally, semester hours from a prior master's degree may not
apply toward a graduate certificate. A maximum of three
semester hours may be waived by the admitting academic unit.
If more than three semester hours are found to duplicate the
course work in a certificate program, the student must take
additional course work with the approval of the certificate
advisor for the academic unit.
G. Course work taken as part of a certificate program may not be
counted toward a graduate degree at TWU without the approval
of both the degree-granting department and the Graduate Dean.
IV.
ADMINISTRATION OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
A. The program, wherever it may be administratively housed, must
be clearly identified and labeled as a certificate program. The
intent of the program must be specified in the institution's
literature.
B. A faculty director will be appointed for each certificate program.
The director will be responsible for certifying the successful
completion of the program's academic requirements. The
Graduate School will arrange for the recording of the completed
certificate on the student's transcript.
C. All units developing certificate programs must seek consultation
from the "related" programs, departments, Schools, and
Colleges; and all requests must be approved by the unit's
appropriate curriculum committee(s), the Dean of the College,
and the Dean of the Graduate School. All changes to approved
certificates must be sent through the same channels for
approval.
D. Admission of students into certificate programs will be for
Certification-Only through the Graduate School.
V.
ASSESSMENT OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
A.
B.
All proposed certificate programs must state at least one
measurable and meaningful program-level student learning
outcome that indicates what students should know and/or be
able to do by the end of/completion of the certificate program.
All certificate programs must include at least two (2)
assessment measures to assess student performance specific
to the learning outcome(s), one of which must be a direct
assessment of student learning.
C.
D.
E.
All certificate programs will prepare an annual Academic
Institutional Improvement Report according to TWU
institutional improvement guidelines.
All certificate programs will review their certificate as an
addendum to their periodic graduate program review every 7
years. The schedule of graduate program reviews is found in
the Graduate Council Policy on Periodic Graduate Program
Review.
Accredited programs for which accreditation specifically
includes the certificate program(s) must submit the
accreditation review in place of the review described in (D).